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Precocious Prefrosh Already Disillusioned by ‘Tech,’ ‘Admin’

Prefrosh Nina Shaw, ’21, has made waves during Rotation for perfecting the salty-senior routine before even hearing her first cannon fire. According to witnesses, Shaw, who has yet to see a single problem set, has already expertly verbally eviscerated Caltech’s ‘dying house culture’ in conversations over Rotation dinner, declaring: “Tech isn’t what it used to be.”

‘Tech isn’t what it used to be.’ – Prefrosh Nina Shaw

Shaw’s remarkable accomplishments have made her noticeable, even among a highly accomplished prefrosh class. As fellow prefrosh Josh Lee puts it: “I knew I was going to meet plenty of people who outclassed me when I accepted my offer, so I came here prepared to meet people who’ve, like, already published in journals and won International Olympiad medals or whatever. But she’s bitter before even having stepped into a single lecture—how are we supposed to catch up?”

Above: students cultivated salt, snark during an all-night homework session.

Prefrosh are not the only ones impressed by Shaw; even upperclassmen have acknowledged her talent. “It took me weeks of all-nighters over badly-written sets to get to where I am,” remarks Colin Ko, ’18. “To be at her level straight out of high school… there’s nothing I can really say to that.”

When approached by TheTorch, Shaw humbly downplayed her natural talent, in favor of highlighting the demanding labor. “I wasn’t born a salty old senior, you know! I had to work at it,” says Shaw. “It took me a hundred hours alone to be able to say ‘Ugh, Admin!’ in a way that really brings out the capital ‘A’.”

At press time, Shaw had already begun unspecified preparations for “s’more year.”